Marcos Soberano was born in Tangiers, Morocco, to a working class family
in 1923. He excelled in academics from a very early age and started his
formal education at the Ecole de L'Alliance Israelite, a French language
Jewish day school. Outside of school, Marcos taught himself the
classics, the laws of the Talmud, and all the prayers necessary to
officiate in synagogue, where he was a loyal attendant. He loved
languages and reading and even taught Hebrew and English in Morocco at
the very same school he attended as a young boy.

In 1947, at the age of 24, Marcos married Simy Mergui and very quickly
started a family that would eventually blossom to include 11 children.
Marcos began his career at the bank in Tangiers as his family started to
grow, all the while continuing to supplement his income by teaching at
night, and preparing boys for their Bar mitzvahs. It was during this
period that Marcos also became very involved in his community, becoming
an advocate for poorer families and eventually becoming head of the
bank's union, fighting for better compensation for his fellow employees.
His proudest accomplishment in this capacity was successfully
campaigning to close Moroccan banks on Shabbat, so their largely Jewish
staffs could enjoy the holy day of rest.

In 1964, as the situation for Jews in Morocco became more precarious,
many people started emigrating from the country including Marcos and his
family who set sail for Toronto, Canada. He was 34 with 10 children at
the time. Adjusting to life in a new country, with a new climate and a
new culture was challenging for Marcos, but he was resilient and quickly
adapted by acquiring a job at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce,
where he was eventually promoted to deputy manager.

Marcos always had a deep love of learning and instilled this value in
his children. He was very proud that many of his children graduated with
advanced degrees in university. He took great pride in his 32
grandchildren and loved helping them prepare for their bar mitzvahs and
attending their brit milot and weddings.

Marcos died on March 24th, 2005 at the age of 82 at Baycrest Hospital,
surrounded by all of his children. At his funeral and shiva, his family
was overwhelmed by the community's outpouring of grief and support and
were surprised to hear from many people how Marcos helped them
financially, with education, with navigating the complicated bureaucracy
in Canada and with being a faithful friend.